In the summer of 2021, Mariane secured an opportunity to be a Design Intern under the marketing team at LightForm. It was an insightful and exciting experience to be exposed to the lighting aspect of interior design and to be able to work with passionate professionals who value creativity.
LightForm is a specialized lighting retail company that curates the most innovative design collection for the North American market. It is one of Canada’s most trusted luminaire companies that is partnered with over 90 high-end lighting brands (including international and exclusive local brands). Visit their website to explore and learn more about LightForm.
INTERNSHIP ARTIFACTS
Summer Window Display
One of the first tasks that was given to Mariane was setting up a summer window display in the Dwell Modern x LightForm Calgary showroom. The lights featured were Linea Seletti suspension/floor/wall lights, which were lightweight neon LED light sticks. The concept was suspending them in a clever and interesting way to create a "cloud of light" in the main window.
Along with these lights, Ligne Roset's current number-one seller Pukka chair was also featured in this window setting.
The picture on the left was the concept she initially proposed that was approved by the lighting account executive, Craig. It was the idea of directly mimicking the rainbow in a refined and simple manner by stacking different colours while staggering horizontally. As for the furniture layout, the plan was to keep it simple by pairing the Pukka chair and ottoman with a black coffee table and an existing accessory cart.
After directing the electrician on the first try, it did not come out as expected and as appealing as planned. So after a few days, one of their colleagues had an idea to go completely unrefined by suspending them in random angles until they blended in together. As a result, they ended up using 12 lights for suspension and 3 as statement floor lamps.
First Installation Attempt
Final Installation
Similar Lights
Another task that was assigned was the "Similar Lights" section on an item page. The objective was to find 5-15 similar lights for every item featured on the website as alternative suggestions for clients. The rationale behind similar lighting choices varies primarily by the product’s shape, material, finish, size, and style. The image below is an example of a completed similar lights section.
Moreover, the lights suggested must be within the same lighting category. For example, only wall lights for sconces, suspension lamps for pendants/ chandeliers, architectural lights for recessed lights, etc. Another careful consideration was keeping the price range in mind in order to provide users with accessible options from different vendors.
The "Similar Lights" section is found via the "Family & Similar" button along with specifications, downloads, notes, videos, etc.
This task helped Mariane familiarize herself with almost every existing product in each Brand, which would be beneficial when finding specific lights for a design project.
Display Hierarchy of Items
Another task she was able to learn is the value of Display Hierarchy of Items on the website’s Brand List pages. Through the company’s NetSuite program, she learned how to rearrange the items depending on their popularity, affordability, and style. They were aiming to have the best-selling items, modern/ contemporary lights, and mostly suspension lamps in the first few rows so that users could get a good first impression from certain brands they were browsing from. It was important to have a combination of different light types for every row so that it fairly balances out brands’ style collections. The image below is an example of a completed and well laid-out Brand List page.
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These pages are found via the “VIEW ALL” button on each brand page.
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With this task, an eye for good design and thought-out layout is a must. This is where LightForm's personalized curation comes into play to help convert website browsers into potential clients.
Helping out in the Showroom
Another fun and light task was helping her colleagues at the Calgary showroom redecorate and relocate furniture, and assemble new light fixtures. This gave her an inner insight into the importance of mindful arrangement that supports and enhances the intended feel of the layout. For example, LightForm’s main objective was ‘transparency’. The Calgary showroom reflected this objective by having an open-concept layout, allocation of lights by brand/ function for easier product knowledge, allocation of best-selling items at the entrance as an easy conversational piece, etc.
To connect and learn from professionals in the lighting and furniture industry was inspiring. Observing how they initiate sales talks, organize sit-down meetings with clients, reorganize the showroom floor layout depending on their target sales of the month, etc. gave Mariane a good overview of how sales plays an important role in the design field. LightForm provided tips and tricks that she could apply to execute mindful designs that strategically convince clients while supporting their primary needs.
